033 — A Visual Diary for 365 Days [Part I]
How it feels to document your life by keeping a visual diary
In 2024, for 365 days I did a Visual Diary to document my life. Why I don't continue doing it for 2025, how it felt during the year while doing it and why 35mm film was the medium I chose to take the images with, will be the main topics of this CREATIVE RHYTHM issue.
My inspiration to start doing a visual diary
Till the very, very end of 2023 I did not consider doing a visual diary at all. At the time I was doing client projects along with personal work and some more less random documentation of the ordinary life.
When Wesley Verhoeve shared a new issue on his PROCESS Substack and described his experiences keeping a visual diary for his past year (2023), I was hooked and super inspired to do the same. Reading his experience and approach made my imagination of me doing the same feel super easy going, with no pressure but very much joy and satisfaction.
One camera - One film - One photo per day
Wesley did his visual diary on 35mm disposable cameras, with the intention to have limited control and a very small and light camera to carry for the whole year.
Choosing film as the medium to do a visual diary for myself was clear from the beginning, even tho I knew it will be expensive. But it felt just right for a project like this. Also deciding to use black and white film was somehow clear for me.
Why black and white? Because I wanted to make all images feel the same, even tho I knew the lighting conditions will be different every day. I also expected to be in very bad light situations throughout the year, which was another plus for black and white (I personally think a image shot in bad light can still look good in b/w but not in color). Ilford HP5+ is my go to b/w film stock since years now for reasons like the look, versatility, price and the grain - So deciding for it to be the stock for the visual diary was a obvious one.
I'm not drawn to disposable cameras but my Olympus XA, which is tiny, robust, has a superb 35mm lens (my personal favourite focal length for every day stuff) for its size, has a perfect balance between control (aperture + focus) and automatic features, and can attach a flash, felt like the perfect camera to accompany me for the rest if the year, where ever I go.
The imagination of having the possibility to look back on me being 26, building a life in Tyrol which I'm fulfilled with, collecting memories with friends and family, felt romantic.
My approach / goal doing this
From the first day and the first picture I knew I must be easy going without any pressure or expectations of this to become an exceptional good body of work. Taking on image a day and carrying the camera everywhere should become a routine, nothing I must force myself just for the sake of doing it.
It should serve the purpose of collecting memories, something to look back on one year, 5 years, 10, 20, 30 years later. The imagination of having the possibility to look back on me being 26, building a life in Tyrol which I'm fulfilled with, collecting memories with friends and family, felt romantic. Having kids in the future who can see how life was back when I was younger, how nature looked like, whom I spent time and what I dedicated my leisure time with. Ideally, it serves as inspiration.
NEXT
There will be a second issue where I go deeper into how it turned out pursuing a visual diary, how it feels like receiving the images and looking at them one year later. Also I'll explain why I stopped keep doing a visual diary for 2025 and how I plan to bring the visual diary 2024 into something collectable/shareable/experienceable.
Thank you for subscribing, and being here!
Hopefully I could inspire you already doing your own visual diary :)
Fabian
All Images in this issue are from the visual diary 2024, shot with the Olympus XA on ilFord HP5+, developed and scanned by Blendpunkt-Lab.
My name is Fabian Mühleder and I’m a photographer who focuses on authentic advertising, lifestyle, and portraiture. This newsletter is for you, if you are curious about my journey to find the creative rhythm. By subscribing, you'll receive project updates, in-depth thinking, photos, insights, behind-the-scenes stories and how-to’s straight to your inbox.
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